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Cristiano Ronaldo just seems to get better and better.
He made the difference yet again with two goals to help Real Madrid secure a third Champions League title in four years, as it crushed Juventus 4-1 in a riveting final in Cardiff.
For all the talk of tactics, the threat posed by the Italian champions and the romantic notion of Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon finally claiming a Champions League winner's medal, Ronaldo yet again found a way to hog the headlines.
Of course, Real's win was about much more than the contribution of its Portuguese forward.
When Juventus enjoyed spells of pressure in the first half, Real largely held firm. After Mario Mandzukic scored an incredible first-half equaliser with an audacious overhead kick, Real did not let the Italians get away.
And whatever manager Zinedine Zidane told his Real players at half-time succeeded in producing a display of dominance that, once Brazilian Casemiro had put them 2-1 up on the hour, never looked in danger of ending in anything other than celebrations.
But it was impossible to ignore Ronaldo, who in the past 12 months has won two Champions League titles, the European Championship with Portugal, claimed a Spanish league title and the World Club Cup, and on an individual level been awarded the Ballon d'Or and FIFA's 'Best' award.
"Again, I've had an amazing season," Ronaldo said.
"Me and my team-mates have done the double. The numbers don't lie. I'm very happy. An amazing season, we've won trophies. This is one of the best moments of my career. I have the chance to say this every year.
"The squad has been great and it's been good for me individually, too. I prepared myself well for the final part of the season and I scored some important goals."
Real's Toni Kroos was in awe of his team-mate Ronaldo.
"You need a guy to score the goals and he did it again," Kroos said.
Strikes in each half from Ronaldo made him the first player to score in three finals in the Champions League era, adding to his goals in the 2008 and 2014 showpieces for Manchester United and Real respectively.
His second in Cardiff, to make it 3-1 in the 64th minute, put the result beyond Juventus and made him top scorer in this season's Champions League with 12 goals - one more than Barcelona's Lionel Messi.
It also happened to be Ronaldo's 600th career goal for club and country.
The former Benfica and Manchester United winger-turned-striker turned 32 in February but far from fading he is as dangerous as ever, perhaps even more effective than in his younger days.
His impact was not lost on Juventus manager Max Allegri, who highlighted the role Ronaldo played in Real's victory amid his frustration at falling short of what would have been a treble for the Italian club.
"My only criticism of my team is that after the second goal we should have found a solution to stay in the game," Allegri said.
"But Real Madrid have important players and when they have a player (Ronaldo) who wins the Ballon d'Or it's a huge advantage."
Reuters
Topics: champions-league, soccer, sport, wales, united-kingdom, spain, italy